The Monte Carlo Opera presents Mozart's legendary Don Giovanni, with a libretto of Lorenzo Da Ponte, in a performance conducted by Paolo Arrivabeni and staged by Jean-Louis Grinda.
The life story of Italian violinist and composer, Niccolò Paganini, who rose to fame as a virtuoso in the early 19th Century.
Viewers also picked
A bohemian artist travels from London to Italy with his estranged son to sell the house they inherited from his late wife.
Viewers also picked
Leo and Angela Russo live a simple life in Queens, surrounded by their overbearing Italian-American family. When their son finds success on his high school basketball team, Leo tears the family apart trying to make it happen.
Viewers also picked
Vice detective Bob Hightower finds his ex-wife murdered and daughter kidnapped by a cult. Frustrated by the botched official investigations, he quits the force and infiltrates the cult to hunt down the leader with the help of the cult’s only female victim escapee, Case Hardin.
Viewers also picked
Set in a 19th century village, a young man studying under a local doctor joins a team of hunters on the trail of a wolf-like creature.
Viewers also picked
Pianist David Helfgott, driven by his father and teachers, has a breakdown. Years later he returns to the piano, to popular if not critical acclaim.
Viewers also picked
A private investigator helps a former flame solve the murder of her wealthy grandfather, who lived in a sprawling estate surrounded by his idiosyncratic family.
Viewers also picked
A retired detective accepts a simple task, unaware that it will tear open old, forgotten, but deadly wounds.
Viewers also picked
Single father and former cop Tom Cutler has an unusual occupation: he cleans up death scenes. But when he's called in to sterilize a wealthy suburban residence after a brutal shooting, Cutler is shocked to learn he may have unknowingly erased crucial evidence, entangling himself in a dirty criminal cover-up.
Viewers also picked
The story of former Hollywood star Grace Kelly's crisis of marriage and identity, during a political dispute between Monaco's Prince Rainier III and France's Charles De Gaulle, and a looming French invasion of Monaco in the early 1960s.
Viewers also picked
At first it came as a delightful surprise to see this Simon Boccanegra (libretto: Francesco Maria Piave) from the Teatro Comunale di Bologna available on DVD. In November, 2007, thirteen opera lovers from Michael Tisma’s Ovations International opera tour travelled to Teatro Municipale Valli in Emiglia Romana to see Bologna’s production of Boccanegra. Without exception, everyone considered it an emotionally gripping performance of Verdi’s pessimistic tale of spiritual disturbance and foreboding. What is evident while watching the DVD is the difference between the confident execution and polish of the Teatro Valli performance and the unfinished, yet promising rendition caught at the opera’s prima in Bologna.
Part of Tutto Verdi series - Ernani (2005) Parma. 'Ernani' is an operatic dramma lirico in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on the play 'Hernani' by Victor Hugo. Ernani was first performed on 9 March 1844 at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice.
A sudden gunshot shatters the dream of two lovers on their wedding day. The fate of Orpheus and Eurydice is cruel: on the very day they sought to seal their love, EurydiceΆs soul embarks on its journey to the underworld. Heartbroken, Orpheus embarks on a perilous journey to bring his beloved back from Hades. A journey that will lead the fearless hero to confront the depths of his emotions and face his greatest fears. This journey will take him through strange worlds and into encounters with some of the greatest musical pieces and arias in the history of music. Will love triumph over death?
La Traviata’s sumptuous melodies and timeless depiction of doomed love have made the work a favorite of generations of operagoers. In his approach to this classic drama, director Willy Decker sets the action on a nearly bare stage, focusing the audience’s full attention on the three main characters. As Violetta, the ailing courtesan desperate to escape her past, soprano Sonya Yoncheva offers a fearless and sympathetic performance from beginning to end. American tenor Michael Fabiano sings with ardent longing as her devoted lover Alfredo, delivering emotionally wrought phrases and ringing top notes. Thomas Hampson brings a burnished baritone to Germont, Alfredo’s protective father whose stern demands spell disaster for the young couple. On the podium, maestro Nicola Luisotti leads an electric performance of Verdi’s unforgettable score.
Live from La Scala Wednesday 10 December 2003
In three heart-rending acts named “The Woman,” “The Lover,” and “The Heroine,” a poignant tale unfolds on the Florentine stage: the prince’s mistress Stephana falls in love with lieutenant Vassili and follows him to a labor camp where her plan to escape with her beloved leads to her own tragic fate…
Nabucco the complex story of Nebuchadnezzar the King of Babylon, who proclaims himself God and is hereon afflicted with madness remains a success with audiences. The director Günter Krämer paid particular attention to the interpersonal component of the opera accentuating the conflict-ridden king's loss of power as the core. His Nabucco is the tragedy of a mighty ruler. Leo Nucci, the baritone well known at all the great opera houses of the world, is Nabucco. After experiencing him at the Vienna State Opera, a critic wrote of his "fascinating timbre" and "intense and plausible acting". Maria Guleghina, who performs Abigaille, is one of the most celebrated and acclaimed sopranos of the world. She has been described as "Russian soprano with Verdi flowing through her veins". Supported by a distinguished cast (Marina Domashenko, Miroslav Dvorský, Giacomo Prestia) this Nabucco is a must for opera lovers.
The “superb, sinister” Tales of Hoffmann at the Dutch National Opera with “excellent soloists, the impressive John Osborn” (Theaterkrant) and “Christine Rice, a vocally and physically voluptuous Giulietta” (bachtrack.com), “mezzosoprano Irene Roberts, who plays and sings brilliantly” (Groene Amsterdammer) and “Erwin Schrott, singing the four villains for the first time, made it look like a blast.” (bachtrack.com) “Les Contes d'Hoffmann is a parade of golden voices”. (Volkskrant) Maestro Rizzi conducted with elegance and momentum the chorus and the “excellent playing Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra”. (Volkskrant) “Spectacular” (Trouw) “This production effortlessly fascinates from start to finish.” (Theaterkrant)
To bring together again, for the first time since their premiere on a December evening in Moscow, Tchaikovsky’s opera Iolanta and ballet The Nutcracker, was the audacious challenge that Russian stage director Dmitri Tcherniakov accepted for the Palais Garnier in Paris in March 2016 : a revolutionary production, which was to become one of the key events of the Paris Opera season.
David McVicar's spellbinding production of LE NOZZE DI FIGARO is set in 1830s post-revolution France, where the inexorable unravelling of an old order has produced acute feelings of loss. In the relationship between Finley's suave, dashingly self-absorbed Count and Röschmann's passionately dignified Countess, which lies at the tragic heart of the opera, the sexy ease between a feisty Figaro (Erwin Schrott) and a sassy Susanna (Miah Persson) is starkly absent, the tenacious spark between Marcellina (Graciela Araya) and Bartolo (Jonathan Veira) suggesting what might be rekindled. The production is superbly complemented by the beauty of Paule Constable's lighting and Tanya McCallin's evocative sets. Antonio Pappano conducts (and accompanies the recitatives) with invigorating wit and emotional depth.
L'italiana in Algeri (The Italian Girl in Algiers) is an operatic dramma giocoso in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto by Angelo Anelli, based on his earlier text set by Luigi Mosca. The music is characteristic of Rossini's style, remarkable for its fusion of sustained, manic energy with elegant, pristine melodies. “L'italiana in Algeri (The Italian Girl in Algiers)” is a two-act opera buffa by Gioachino Rossini, with a libretto by Angelo Anelli. It premiered at the Teatro San Benedetto in Venice on May 22, 1813. “L'italiana in Algeri” is the first opera buffa that Rossini wrote shortly after his first full-length work, “Tancredi.” Recorded live at the Teatro Municipale Romolo Valli in Reggio Emilia, Italy, on Sunday, February 22, 2026, at 3:30 P.M. (Central European Time).
With war and acts of violence in the background, Aida tells the story of a fascinating and tense love triangle between the Egyptian princess, Amneris, Ramades, an officer, and Aida, a Nubian princess, captured and reduced to slavery. The historical scenes and triumphal marches, which have contributed to the popularity of this opera, are followed by intimate but powerful duets and introspective moments of great intensity.
In late 18th-century Italy, in the mansion of Don Magnifico, the young and pretty Angelina works as a maid. Teased by her two frivolous half-sisters, Clorinda and Tisby, Angelina believes she is in love with a young valet and goes to the ball. Dressed in her finest finery, she meets the man who is in fact the Prince and flees from him after giving him a bracelet that will allow him to recognise her a little later. The masks come off, and kindness and love triumph! ‘La Cenerentola’ is the last opera buffa composed by Gioachino Rossini for an Italian audience. A dramma giocoso in two acts, with a libretto by Jacopo Ferretti, freely adapted from Charles Perrault’s fairy tale ‘Cinderella’ (1697), omitting the magic in favour of a realism tinged with humour and social criticism. Premiered for the Rome Carnival at the Teatro Valle in Rome on 28 January 1817. Recorded live at Glyndebourne Opera, Lewes, East Sussex, on 2 and 4 June 2005.
A ruthless dictator falls in love with a sexy woman. Together, they get rid of every obstacle in their way: his wife, her former lover, and also the voice of reason. Everything is sacrificed to passion, in this tale where evil triumphs, virtue and reason are humiliated, and nothing corresponds to our moral principles. Jan Lauwers, the director and choreographer, sets L'incoronazione di Poppea in a way congenial to his means: a visual artist, he translated the emotions expressed by Monteverdi’s music into dancing and visual images. The result was mixed; the general impression was one of many ideas, seemingly not fully developed or analysed. The stage was constantly cluttered with moving bodies, or tableau vivants, leaving a sense of confusion, and distracting from the music.
Originally commissioned to celebrate the completion of the Suez Canal and the opening of Cairos new opera house, Verdis Egyptian epic Aida is here seen in a spectacular new staging in the Teatro Regio Torino by the Oscar-winning American film director William Friedkin, creator of such famous movies as The Exorcist and The French Connection. The cast features American soprano Kristin Lewis who has been heralded for her remarkable voice, which she uses with powerful dramatic instinct, and Georgian mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili, whose Amneris dominates the stage with her dark, rounded, irresistible voice and extraordinary stage presence. Gianandrea Noseda leading the Orchestra and Chorus Teatro Regio Torino received accolaides from all: he controls everything- orchestra, singers, chorus, dancers, acrobats- with an all-encompassing overview. He knows exactly when its time to linger over a timbre, a color, an expressive chord.
Giuseppe Verdi's opera Aida
This is Schrott's second Figaro in a less than twelve month period, the earlier being the ROH production. The two productions have vast differences as well as similarities. The ROH production as been set in the equivalent of the Regency period--Spanish version. The Zurich is set in what appears to be the 1950's. For those who note such things, Schrott can appear sans shirt, but in an undershirt in the Zurich house. Vocally there is no difference between the two performances. The man has a glorious multi-hued voice over which he has complete command. Not only is he good looking he can act. He should have a great career. Indeed, the virile sound he produces would lead one to wonder if the great Verdi baritone roles are within his ability.
Giordano’s passionate tragedy stars tenor Piotr Beczała as the virtuous poet who falls victim to the intrigue and violence of the French Revolution. Following their celebrated recent partnership in Giordano’s Fedora in the 2022–23 Live in HD season, Beczała reunites with soprano Sonya Yoncheva as Chénier’s aristocratic lover, Maddalena di Coigny, with baritone Igor Golovatenko as Carlo Gérard, the agent of the Reign of Terror who seals their fates.
Bellini - i Capuleti e i Montecchi at the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona
In Milan and Como during the month of May 1176. Milanese soldiers defend the city under the command of Rolando. He is reunited with Arrigo, his friend from Verona, who had been presumed dead in battle. Arrigo also meets Lida, his former fiancée, who, at her father’s behest, has married Rolando. Meanwhile, Rolando, who is preparing to leave for battle, is approached by Marcovaldo, a German prisoner of war, who hands him a letter from Lida for Arrigo. Rolando’s anger turns to a desire for revenge. Catching Lida and Arrigo in the middle of a conversation, he has his “rival” imprisoned in a tower. “La battaglia di Legnano” (The Battle of Legnano) is a four-act opera by Giuseppe Verdi with a libretto by Salvatore Cammarano, premiered at the Teatro Argentina in Rome on January 27, 1849. From the “Tutto Verdi” box set of 27 Verdi operas. Recorded live at the Teatro Lirico “Giuseppe Verdi” in Trieste on February 23 and 29 and March 2, 2012.
Gualtiero is an exiled count, forced to become a pirate. His enemy Ernesto blackmails Imogene into marrying him, even though he knows she loves Gualtiero. In the searing final scene Imogene goes insane when Gualtiero is condemned to death. This is riveting bel canto drama as you have seldom hear it.
The Pearl Fishers from 1863 concerns an opera in three acts. It's a work about friendship, love, faithfulness and betrayal. The story takes place in Sri Lanka. The pearl fishers Nadir and Zurga are both in love with the girl Leïla. In order to maintain their friendship, the swear not to court the girl. They promise never let go of their friendship end over the love for th a girl. Then they lose sight of the girl. Years later, Leïla returns as a priestess back to the fishermen's village. Nadir recognizes her and courts her. The two are caught and the sentence is the pillar. Zurga, now the fisherman's captain, avoids this and lets them escape. The angry villagers grabbed him and threw him on the pile of fire that was intended for the two lovers.
In its most ambitious effort yet to bring the joy and artistry of opera to audiences everywhere during the Met’s closure, the company presented an unprecedented virtual At-Home Gala, featuring more than 40 leading artists performing in a live stream from their homes all around the world.
Umberto Giordano’s exhilarating drama returns to the Met repertory for the first time in 25 years. Packed with memorable melodies, showstopping arias, and explosive confrontations, Fedora requires a cast of thrilling voices to take flight, and the Met’s new production promises to deliver. Soprano Sonya Yoncheva, one of today’s most riveting artists, sings the title role of the 19th-century Russian princess who falls in love with her fiancé’s murderer, Count Loris, sung by star tenor Piotr Beczała. Soprano Rosa Feola is the Countess Olga, Fedora’s confidante, and baritone Artur Ruciński is the diplomat De Siriex, with much-loved Met maestro Marco Armiliato conducting. Director David McVicar delivers a detailed and dramatic staging based around an ingenious fixed set that, like a Russian nesting doll, unfolds to reveal the opera’s three distinctive settings—a palace in St. Petersburg, a fashionable Parisian salon, and a picturesque villa in the Swiss Alps.
This is the version of I Capuleti e i Montecchi made for La Scala, where it was first staged on 26th December 1830, featuring two female voices in the roles of Romeo and Juliet. This opera is usually performed with a tenor as Romeo, but at La Scala Bellini found a different singing troupe which obliged him to cast not the en travesti warrior of Rossinian manner (like Tancredi, Arsace, Malcolm) but a wholly female Romeo, ardent and authoritative yet at the same time languid, sensual and soft. The choice of this Capuleti at the 2005 Martina Franca Festival was also dictated by the availability of Patrizia Ciofi. This great specialist of romantic belcanto had never been offered the role of Giulietta in Capuleti, a role which is absolutely ideal for her vocal talents.
Live performance, Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, July 2006. 'L'italiana in Algeri' (English: 'The Italian Girl in Algiers') is an operatic dramma giocoso in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto by Angelo Anelli, based on his earlier text set by Luigi Mosca. It premiered at the Teatro San Benedetto in Venice on 22 May 1813. The music is characteristic of Rossini's style, remarkable for its fusion of sustained, manic energy with elegant, pristine melodies.
Tony Award winner Bartlett Sher’s bold new production probes the psychological underpinnings of Verdi’s dynamic setting of Shakespeare’s great tragedy. At the helm of this performance is riveting conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin, who brings out all the cascading emotions in Verdi’s turbulent score. Aleksandrs Antonenko is the Moor Otello, the triumphant general of the Venetian army who is ultimately brought down by the sly insinuations of his friend Iago (Željko Lučić). Sonya Yoncheva continues to win fans as Desdemona, Otello’s faithful and long-suffering wife. With Günther Groissböck as Lodovico and Dimitri Pittas as Cassio.
Set in 16th-century France and Spain, Don Carlos tells of the political and amorous rivalry between King Philip II and his son, Don Carlos, over Elisabeth de Valois. Krzysztof Warlikowski strips down a tragedy haunted by ghosts, and places the intimate at the heart of an imaginary fresco truer than history itself. Along with Philippe Jordan, he reveals to the public the very first version of this great five-act opera: the version modified by Verdi himself for the work’s first performance in 1867.
Roberto Alagna, Marina Poplavskaya, Beatrice Uria-Monzon are hot hot hot. This Carmen perfectly hits the gypsy theme as a way of life rather than just some sleazy seductress. This Carmen is troubled, intense, manipulative and totally believable as "damaged". Alagna plays his part brilliantly. He is seduced and naive. He is angry and frustrated. He has that "I can fix her" syndrome. Poplavskaya is always a pleasure in my book---and this role, while a small part, suits her. She is very naive and lost in the shuffle of the military and the gypsies...perfect. Some of this is even a little disturbing as the gypsies put a little lipstick on a very young girl. Brilliant. In all, this is a fantastic production.
In Antique Rome, in 80 AC, the magnanimous Emperor Titus is in love with Berenice, but Vitellia, consumed by ambition, wants to marry him to secure a place of power. Taking advantage of the fact that Sextus, the best friend of Titus, is in love with her, she convinces him to assassinate Titus. The conspiracy is unmasked and Titus benevolently responds to this affront with clemency, forgiving them both.
Including world-class artists such as Bryn Terfel, Cecilia Bartoli, Anne Sofie von Otter, Jose Cura, Simon Keenlyside and Agnes Letestu, this 50-minute sampler will give you a taste of many beloved classics in opera and ballet.
A feathered thief, a servant wrongly sentenced to death and a corrupt, power-hungry politician: those are the protagonists of Rossini’s semi-serious opera whose overture, with its drum rolls and oboe solo, is one of the best-known pieces in the history of music. La gazza ladra (The Thieving Magpie) is set in a time of great social upheaval. When Ninetta is accused of stealing a silver spoon, a series of unfortunate events begins that initially makes the happy ending expected from an opera semiseria seem highly unlikely. What sort of world is it where a person can be executed for the alleged theft of a spoon? Tobias Kratzer, successful as a director throughout Europe, now debuts in Vienna with Rossini’s opera that received its first performance in 1817 and traces the uncertainty felt by people in a politically and socially destabilised world.
In 1559 in the Forest of Fontainebleau, during the peace negotiations between France and Spain: under the terms of the treaty, the Infante of Spain, Carlos, was to marry Elisabeth de Valois, the daughter of King Henry II of France. During a hunting party, the Infante Carlos (tenor), who loves (Io la vidi) Elisabeth de Valois (soprano), daughter of the King of France, whom he is soon to marry, manages to meet her and declare his love, which is reciprocated. But his father, the King of Spain, Philip II, decides to marry Elisabeth himself. ‘Don Carlos 7’ is a ‘grand opera à la française’ in five acts by Giuseppe Verdi, with a libretto by Joseph Méry and Camille du Locle, based on Friedrich von Schiller’s tragedy ‘Don Carlos’, premiered on 11 March 1867 at the Paris Opera. From the box set ‘Tutto Verdi’ featuring 27 of Verdi’s operas. Recorded live at the Teatro Comunale ‘Luciano Pavarotti’ in Modena on 5, 17, 19 and 21 October 2012.
Recorded live at the Royal Opera House, December 2012. Daniel Oren conducting Royal Opera House Orchestra and Chorus. A grand opera that dominated the stages of Europe for most of the 19th century, Robert le diable is a masterpiece. Director Laurent Pelly breathes new life into Giacomo Meyerbeer's great spectacle and audaciously entertaining moral fable, in this colourful new staging for The Royal Opera.
Today's top bel canto tenor, Juan Diego Flórez, and acclaimed Italian soprano Patrizia Ciofi lead a superb ensemble cast in Donizetti's sparkling opéra-comique from the Teatro Carlo Felice, Genoa. This acclaimed production sets the action in the final days of World War II. Marie is the daughter of an American army captain, Tonio is a young French villager whose love for her leads him to join the American ranks. When the secret of Marie's birth is revealed and her mother insists on an aristocratic suitor, only an appeal to the memory of young love can reunite them...
Disillusioned with life, the aged philosopher Faust calls upon Satan to help him. The devil Méphistophélès appears and strikes a bargain with the philosopher: he will give him youth and the love of the beautiful Marguerite, if Faust hands over his soul. Faust agrees, and Méphistophélès arranges matters so that Marguerite loses interest in her suitor Siébel and becomes infatuated with Faust. Faust initially seems to love Marguerite in return, but soon abandons her. Her brother Valentin returns from the war and is furious to find his sister pregnant. Will Faust repent his destructive actions, and can his soul, and Marguerite's, be saved?
Meyerbeer opera with Emmanuel Villaume conducting the Orchestra and Chorus of Teatro La Fenice di Venezia directed by Pier Lui.
Maometto II (or Maometto secondo) is an 1820 opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto by Cesare della Valle. Set in the 1470s during a time of war between the Turks and Venetians, the work was commissioned by the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples. Della Valle based his libretto on his earlier play Anna Erizo. The name of the title character, Maometto II, refers to the real-life Ottoman Sultan and conqueror of Constantinople Mehmed II, who lived from 1432 to 1481.
